I'm sort of obsessed with this crazy wallpaper, part of the Fornasetti Collection by Cole & Son. It sure is bold, but in small doses could be super cool. Like behind bookshelves or in on one wall in a kitchen.

Friends, as some of you may know, I'm moving to San Francisco in the next few months, and specifically looking to rent in Noe Valley. It's been a stressful thing, to say the least. Just thinking about money and how competitive the market and I can feel an ulcer taking root. So when I read the New York Times last week and happened upon this amazing house, I had a little emotional tantrum. How can these people, who are around my age, have bought, and then decorating this cool house in Noe Valley? More importantly, how can I do that, too? In the week since the jealousy has subsided, at least enough for me to post these pictures...

Did any of you catch the feature on the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust on 60 Minutes last night? I have long been interested in this amazing elephant orphanage, and it visiting it is high on my list of things to do in this lifetime. Elephants are the most incredible creatures -- and my favorite animal. They are highly emotional, loving and friendly and never loose their memory, so much so that a baby elephant who has witnessed the murder of his mother is in jeopardy of dying from grief. It shocks and saddens me that elephants are still being killed for their ivory. To donate to the trust click here. Click on the 60 Minutes link above to watch the 10 minute long piece. My favorite part is seeing the elephants playing their favorite game: soccer!

I'm sort of obsessing over Kirsten Hecktermann's beautiful velvet pillows. She hand dyes each fabric herself to get the most luminous range of colors from vermilion green to the softest, faded pink. I've been lately admiring the work of people who hand-dye objects. It seems that they have the most amazing eye for color. I think I need to try it out on my own, and get in touch with my inner kaleidescope.

My Mom gave me my first Maira Kalman book, Ooh-la-la, Max in Love, when I was a little girl who wanted to move to Paris (and promptly did so as soon as she could.) Now she's writing and illustrating this fantastic blog about democracy, And The Pursuit of Happiness, for the New York Times. It's totally brilliant. You have to check it out!

I'm not quite sure why it comes as such a discovery, but I'm just realizing how much I love Spring. Maybe it's because I've spent much of my twenties in places where spring doesn't really exist. Up in the mountains spring is raw and wet and wild, which usually means that it snows and snows and snows until June. But down here in the foothills, spring is showing its glorious self. And it's all about rebirth. The mornings are cool and quiet, except for the birds happily rejoicing in the sunshine. The earth smells fragrant, as if all the fresh air in the world had just been recycled into something sweet. Overnight, a million different shades of green have revealed themselves. It's brilliant, and it makes me very, very happy.

Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,
So do our minutes hasten to their end,
Each changing place with that which goes before
In sequent toil all forwards do contend.
Nativity, once in the main of light,
Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crowned,
Crooked eclipses 'gainst his glory fight
And Time that gave, doth now his confound.
Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth,
And delves the parallels in beauty's brow,Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth,
And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow:
And yet to times in hope, my verse shall stand,
Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand.

Because it's Earth Day, I wanted to write about the brilliance of Scottish sculptor and photographer, Andy Goldsworthy. He is one of my favorite artists of all time. He uses all natural objects to create delicate sculptures of incredible beauty. But, as with all things beautiful they do not last; either the tides, the winds, the rain or the snow will destroy them. What faith it must take to spend so much time creating something whose ephemeralness and transience cannot be denied. Many traditional Japanese artists have believed that it is the very idea of an object's impermanence is that which makes something beautiful.

I have a lot of weddings coming up this summer and am looking for interesting gifts. I'm loving the work of glassblower Michael Ruh. His creations are organic and light, and come in the most beautiful of colors. A lovely, unique piece would be a great wedding present, I think.

So I'm a sick, sick dog today. Murf. And it's pouring rain and 38 degrees. Blurgh. Murf and Blurgh. So I'm spending all day trolling through lovely, pretty blogs and came across this post on the fab Simple + Pretty about Cynthia Warren. Now I'm daydreaming about her incredibly delicate work (while also swooning over Benjamin Bratt in Law and Order as I watch old episode after old episode.) Back to Warren. Her work is just beyond gorgeous and her talent truly blows me away. Check out her website -- especially the calligraphy and typography section. -- and the typography in the first photo. Love and swoon. Do you believe in the healing power of beautiful things? Here's hoping.

I really like this new song from Moby. And I love, love, love the video, which was directed by the one and only, David Lynch. I think that if I could ever get into someone's head (a la Being John Malkovich) Mr. Lynch would be at the top of a very short list.

Do you guys ever dream about the ultimate getaway? I've been seriously thinking about where I would love to run off to for the next few months. The weather here has kept true to the old pattern of April showers. Then yesterday I came down with a bad cold out of the blue, and have subsequently lost my voice! I can't help thinking that a little sunshine and beach time would get me ship shape in no time. I dream about going back to my the most perfect beach town in the whole world--Jericoacoara, Brazil--or trying someplace new--like this island in the middle of the Indian Ocean that I recently read about. Man, oh, man, does it sound good. What about you? Where would you run to?

I just love the Ghost Chair by Phillipe Starck. And I love the whispers of something that the different color options suggest. I think they one or two of them would be lovely around an old wooden farm table.

Sorry that I've been a bit absent this week, folks. I've been consumed by details involving some huge life changes that are coming up for me in a few weeks. It's mostly good, but even good can be stressful sometimes. Anyways, I hope you all have a lovely weekend. And Happy Passover or Happy Easter, or Happy April, to all of you out there. Oh, and by the way, I love this photograph...

Jordan, of the blog Oh Happy Day!, threw the coolest birthday party ever, which culminated in she and her friends playing around with Holi colored powders from India. Her pictures remind me of one of my favorite books as a child, Oh Were They Ever Happy!, in which three siblings not-so-secretly paint their parents' house a kaleidoscope of colors. Color, color, everywhere!

Oh, man, I would really love to see the exhibit, “Into the Sunset: Photography’s Image of the American West,” at the MOMA in New York. My college thesis was a western screenplay about Billy the Kid and the mythic life and death of the Wild West. It is a topic that absolutely fascinates me. And what's especially interesting is that there is still a mythology of freedom and reinvention that you can feel here even today. If you are in New York and have seen the show, let me know!

Happy Friday, everyone. It's supposed to snow up to a foot here for the second weekend in a row. We need the moisture, badly, but I'm like, couldn't this have happened in February? Ahh, the lovely Rocky Mountain Spring. It's close, but not quite the real thing. Hope you are feeling a bit more warm and wide-eyed, wherever you may be.

I think it's because I currently live in a 50's style ranch house that I fantasize about older houses with architectural details. When I move to San Francisco later this summer I would love to live in one of those old Victorian houses, and then paint everything white.

Have you guys checked out this cookbook, The Silver Spoon? A new English translation of Il Cucchiaio d'Argento, Italy's top selling cookbook these past fifty years, the book is a veritable bible of all things yummy. Seriously, if I had to live on one cookbook alone for the rest of my life, this would be it. FYI: some of the recipes don't quite tell you how long things are really going to take, as in, "my Italian Grandmother would say the proper way to cook this is for eight hours;" so just be prepared. But for me food is all about love, and the good kind of love takes time to make. The book's beautiful design and mouth watering photos will make you salivate for more... (PS-click on the photos for bigger versions of photos and the actual recipes!)

hello! bonjour. hola. bom dia.

My name is Honora, and I am writer and grad student in San Francisco, CA. I love British mysteries, the word vermillion, sitting in the sun after a nice swim, and logging time in international airport terminals (and the countries that they take me to). Thanks for visiting!

Feel free to leave comments on posts, or to get in touch by e-mail: byitsowndesign@gmail.com.

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